


We Meet Again

by orphan_account



Category: Closer - Oh My Girl (Music Video)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, F/F, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 05:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6942022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Paradise could be a wonderful place to live, but sometimes it was a fickle one, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Meet Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lightningwaltz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningwaltz/gifts).



Paradise could be a wonderful place to live, but sometimes it was a fickle one, too. Thea, along with her fellow nymphs, enjoyed a peaceful life and as long as you followed the (sometimes foolish) rules the gods set, your life would remain as such.

Thea supposed eventually all good things would come to an end. One couldn’t live a life of comfort and ease forever when one lived among gods. They could be cruel beings, after all. She just never thought it would be happening to her.

A ridiculous rule involving no consumption of the food growing in paradise is what got them in trouble. There wasn’t a need to consume food. Given that they were immortal beings, none of them needed food. She kept this in mind when one day an apple fell from the tree and rolled towards Jocasta.

“Jocasta, remember the rules!” Thea warned as Jocasta moved to reach for it. “We aren’t to touch the food let alone eat it.”

“But it only applies to those still on the tree!”

Penelope pursed her lips. “Jo has a point. It’s just sitting there. One bite can’t hurt.”

The other girls nodded, pleading silently with their eyes. Hesitantly, She reached for the apple. Technically, no such rule existed for dropped fruit. It only existed for the hanging kind.

“I suppose a bite won’t hurt. They shouldn’t care much about a fallen apple.” As the oldest, Thea tried to set an example for the girls. If she agreed that eating the apple wouldn’t cause any problems, than it would be fine to do so.

Thea split the apple eight ways. She brought the slice ot her lips and her eyes widened at the sweetness and slightly bitter aftertaste. The apple needed to be savored. It had to be the most delicious piece of fruit ever created.

“Thea this is so good!” Penelope gasped.

The fruit quickly vanished. Thea felt no regrets until the first burst of pain hit her, starting in her stomach and seeming to spread all over. It became a struggle to stay upright. The others were faring just as badly.

“Silly nymphs!” giggled a voice from above. “They can be so dumb can’t they?”

“Flighty too!” Another voice chimed in

Thea’s vision blurred and knees buckled. The world spun with the faces of her friends blurring together. Eventually Thea couldn’t stand it any longer and succumbed to the pain. By the time she came to, she was alone in the garden.

“Jo? Penelope?” Thea called each of their names but no one responded. She was truly alone.

“They’ve been banished. We don’t need a bunch of nymphs around who can’t follow the rules.”

“The forest--” Thea croaked out, only to be cut off.

“There will always be nymphs to protect the forest.”

“Why am I still here then?”

A giggle followed. “We have a special punishment in mind for the instigator.”

“Cruel, bitter creatures.” Thea hissed. She tried to appear strong but the dread running through her quickly overpowered other emotions. 

The words did little. They only drew more giggles out of the two goddesses. “Like my dear sister was saying, you remain because we have a special job for you.The underworld is in desperate need of new staffers and you would be a perfect choice for the position.”

Working in the dark, dank underworld sent Thea into a panic. But what could she do; no matter how crazy the punishment, they’d broken a rule and rule breakers had to be punished.

~*~

Much to her displeasure, Thea took to the job quickly. The biggest drawback to working in the underworld could be the draft. A thick, blood colored cape was necessary in blocking it out. The cape was her idea but the color not so much. It so happened to be the only one available. Thea usually preferred the color blue above all else.

This had to be another trick from the gods. Oh, how they loved playing their tricks and games.

The memories of her friends stayed with Thea, no matter how much time passed. She remembered the fun they used to have and the joy of always having someone there for you.  
Now Thea found herself alone. The only people to talk to were those souls moving on and they never made for good conversation. Too much distraction and shock from their abrupt visit to the underworld to even think about having a decent one.

Sometimes, Thea bitterly didn’t want the memories. Remembering what used to be was harder than forgetting. You couldn’t pine for what you couldn’t remember. Thea knew it was selfish. At least she still had memories. Some who came here didn’t even have that.

The day her new world got shaken up, it seemed like any other day on the job. Thea walked down the dimly lit path, carrying nothing but her lantern. Near the water sat her canoe. She hesitated some before climbing in. Traveling down the river path remained a part of her job Thea especially hated.

When Thea docked on the other side where the new soul would be waiting, she let out a sigh of relief. She exited the boat, holding up the lantern to illuminate her face. “Welcome to the next stage of your life. If you follow me, I will take you where you need to go.”

No response from the shivering girl in white but this was the norm. Usually coming to the underworld caused one of two reactions; silence or unintelligible babbling. Thea personally preferred the silence.

She sighed. “Please follow me.”

The girl stepped forward and stumbled. Thea stood still, waiting beside the canoe. Eventually the girl made it to her. She looked up and Thea’s breath caught in her throat.

It couldn’t be. “Jo?” Thea breathed out.

“My name is Jiyoung,” she snapped. Her voice sounded close to hysterical and Thea was sure that if she spoke it would sound nearly identical to her tone.

This girl was the spitting image of Jo. Briefly Thea closed her eyes just to let it all sink in. The memory of Jo’s laugh and the taste of her filled Thea’s mind. Oh, how she missed Jo. She wanted to grab and kiss her but this person didn’t remember Thea. To Jiyoung, Thea was no more than a stranger.

“May I ask how you perished?” Thea needed to be careful. One wrong word and the hysterics would come.

“A train. I-I jumped,” She rasped. “I guess I’m in hell?”

Had Jo somehow been reborn as a suicidal mortal? At this point aything seemed possible; even the impossible.

“The underworld. Think of it as a gateway to where you need to get to next.”

“It still sounds a lot like hell to me.”

“I assure you it’s not.”

Thea didn’t know how she managed to remain so calm on the outside when on the inside she was falling apart. The chances of this being a trick from the gods were high but on the off chance it wasn’t, Thea couldn’t dismiss it; not when she had Jo back in her life or at least some version of her.

“We should get in the canoe. Enough time already has been wasted.” Thea didn’t want to lead Jo to her (technically) second death but it was important to keep up appearances in case the gods suspected something.

She noticed that Jiyoung kept casting confused glances her way. Eventually Thea had to ask because it was starting to become unnerving.

“Yes?”

“Why does your face look familiar?” Jiyoung blurted out. She squinted, trying to get a good look at Thea’s face. It would be amazing if Jo remembered her but Thea wouldn’t get her hopes up. Years of working in the underworld taught her that.

“Perhaps I have one of those familiar faces,” Thea explained.

Jiyoung shook her head. “No, that isn’t it. Even your voice is familiar… and the way you smile.”

“... I haven’t smiled.”

“Well, I can recall you smiling quite a lot. Why? I don’t understand. How can I remember things about you but not know you?” Jiyoung was babbling just like Jo used too. This made it harder and harder for Thea to ignore the evidence staring her right in the face.

Thea had to remain strong and that meant ignoring the feelings she wanted so desperately to act on. The gods couldn’t find out about this because if they did then their mistake would quickly be corrected.

“Please answer me! It hurts. I-I know we’ve met but there’s this block.”

“We knew each other a long, long time ago.”

She blamed herself for being unable to bear the sound of Jo in any kind of physical or mental distress. Her eyes closed and Thea struggled to gain control. Any second they’d reach the other side of the river so Jiyoung could pass on to wherever her soul would go. 

It would be over and then Thea could pretend none of this happened. As if she could forget but Thea would try.

“What is your name?”

“Thea.”

The canoe docked, startling Thea out of her thoughts. She’d never been more grateful for it to stop.

“Thea,” Jiyoung repeated. “I know you but how? In my head it’s just these blurred memories that I can’t make out. Help me make sense of them, please. I need to know.”

“I told you already. We knew each other a long, long time ago in another world. It was a peaceful, happy existence that was ripped out from under us when we broke some silly little rule. You’re the first one I’ve seen since it happened, Jo.”

“My name was Jo?”

Thea quirked a smile. “Jocasta. There were eight of us, actually. We got along splendidly. I mean, we had our share of fights but there were no people I’d rather spend eternity with.”

“What happened?”

“We were cast out,” Thea said bitterly but her tone quickly was replaced by amusement. “You don’t sound at all shocked.”

Jiyoung smiled weakly. “Believe me I am but not as much as I imagined I would. Somehow I know you’re telling me the truth.”

“Down this path is the end of our journey. May I ask something selfish?”

“I… I suppose.”

“Can I have a kiss?”

She wanted to be selfish for just this one moment because after Jo moved on, who knows if she would ever see her again. Souls could be reborn but this wasn’t always the norm. There was no guarantee they'd meet for a third time so a kiss made sense.

Jiyoung looked taken aback but she moved forward. Lightly her lips pressed against Thea’s. The kiss was short but it ignited great feelings in Thea. She didn’t want the kiss to end.

“Thank you,” Thea whispered.

For a second Thea hoped the kiss would jog Jiyoung’s memory of her past life but no such thing would happen. Life was not a fairytale, after all.

“I wish I could remember you. You seem very lovely and I think we were happy together.”

Thea nodded. “We were.”

They continued down the path until Thea came to a sudden stop. She handed Jiyoung the lantern and nudged her forward. “Continue down the path and you’ll find where you need to go.”

Jiyoung hesitated. “What about you?”

“I will be fine. At least now I have some closure,” Thea assured Jiyoung. “Go. Enough time has been wasted.” 

She could do nothing more than watch Jiyoung walk forward before fading from view. Perhaps one day they would meet again.


End file.
